Book Review – The Faith of Barack Obama by Stephen Mansfield

The Faith of Barack Obama is not about "converting" anyone from one political party to another. It's more a biography of Barack Obama and an interesting read. Dispelling some of the myths surrounding Barack Obama, it replaces those myths with actuality. It provides background as to who Obama is, his values and beliefs, how he might be as a leader, and what has actually come into making him who he is today.

I have read elsewhere that the author, Stephen Mansfield, is not an Obama supporter, and his preference for a more conservative viewpoint comes through in some instances. However, he has done a good job overall in remaining objective, and I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about this potential President.

The book describes the various non-Christian and Christian influences on Barack, including the known controversial influences of his atheist mother, Muslim stepfather, and the black liberation theologian Reverend Jeremiah Wright Jr of the Trinity United Church of Christ. But it goes further to explain how these influences have contributed to Barack's ideology. At one point, the author describes Barack as "unapologetically Christian" as well as "unapologetically liberal," and much of the text describes these two characteristics coming together in an historic American movement of faith-based politics to the Religious Left.

In the chapter entitled "Four Faces of Faith," Stephen Mansfield contends that the 2008 political arena is dominated with religious forces, including in addition to Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and George W. Bush. The chapter offers a brief background of the faith of each of these political personalities and helps the reader to understand their driving forces. While I felt this chapter long and questioned the reason for devoting that much of the book to discussion other than Barack, I quickly saw the value in that it gives the reader a basis on which to compare the various individuals.

To me, The Faith of Barack Obama describes Barack as a Presidential candidate that offers hope and sincerity. Hope for a unified nation, an end to racism and poverty, and ethical and accountable leadership.